I woke up early today with the intention of getting to the new Tokyo Skytree. The Skytree is the new tower in Tokyo that is taller even than the Tokyo Tower by nearly double or something like that. The main observatory platform is 350 meters up which is higher than the the top platform of Tokyo Tower. The higher Tembu platform is 450 meters up. The reports were that the lines to get into the Skytree have been horrendous 6 hour waits whenever people have tried to do it. I was hedging my bets that it would not be that long at 8am when the tower opened for the day. I ate breakfast quickly then went to Daimon Station and bought a day pass for the subways as it was cheaper than the combined fares I needed. I then rode the Asakusa line to Oshiage (Skytree) Station and exited to the surface. It doesn't take long for the tower to come into view and you can really see how gigantic it is from below. I worked my way around to the entrance of the building and found that there was indeed a line forming but it didn't look that big yet and everyone appeared to be moving inside. So I got in line and a little less than 20 minutes later I had bought my ticket to the lower platform and a couple minutes later I was in the elevator on the way up. It takes about 50 seconds to get to the 350 meter level in one of their elevators. They have 4 and they each are set to a theme of the seasons. I rode up on the one for spring which was decorated in sakura.
At the first platform I walked around the loop and took pictures. It was very crowded inside and good window space was hard to come by. People weren't pushing but neither were they really moving around from their perches much either. I think the crowds inside did detract from the overall experience a little bit. Still I was able to wade my way through them and get a good look around. It is funny that all the other buildings are already below you. After the loop I made my way to the line to buy a ticket for the higher platform and that took about 5 minutes. Then it was a couple minutes until we were in the elevator up 100 more meters in just a few seconds. At the upper platform they have a spiral walk around the tower. It is really obvious how high up you are at this point as even the buildings look tiny, let alone the cars. Again this platform was just about as crowded as the lower one and it was a bit of mucking through the traffic to get a good look out the windows and all the way around the loop. When I was done it was back onto another elevator ride to the 345 floor (345 meters, just below the main observatory platform). The walk around there produced a way too overcrowded gift shop then stairs down to the 340 floor which had the glass bottom floors to stand on. Everyone was on it. It was not like in Tokyo Tower where no one dared stand on it. I had to wait a couple moments to actually get on it. I still saw people who were hesitating even with such a large crowd on top of it. From there I found the elevator back down to the 5th floor which had a larger and less crowded gift shop then it was on out of the Skytree area and back on the Asakusa line to Asakusa itself to do one more visit to the temple and then run through the gifty area for a few minutes. I managed to get a cherry version of my deep fried favorites. It had some sort of leaves in it too. Not sure what they were but it was very tasty. I also later on after quite a while of walking around had a rose flavored soft serve ice cream that was very good. Packed with stuff I bought I figured it was best to bring them to the hotel before heading to lunch so I rode the Asakusa line the rest of the way back to Daimon and dropped things off.
After a brief stop I had lunch at the Tokyo Tower. I had intended to go to the katsu restaurant but they were completely filled up so I ended up at the Tokyo Curry Lab which served a katsu curry. It was ok but the curry was a bit acidy and I liked the CoCoIchi curry better overall. After lunch I headed back to the room and relaxed a little bit before deciding to take a trip out to Daiba. In order to get to Daiba I had to get on the Yamanote Line to Shimbashi and then switch over to the Yurikamome monorail type line out to Daiba. This isn't covered by my pass so I had to buy a round trip ticket there and back. It isn't a very long ride but the cars were fairly full. The Shimbashi stop is the first station in the line and it was getting filled up right away. In order to get to Daiba the train rides a big loop around before going over the rainbow bridge (after making a couple other stops first). While on the bridge I noticed it has sidewalks that means you can walk across it, and people were. I think I will put in on my list of things to do next time in Japan. Daiba is the second stop after the bridge. I have been there both other trips. The first obvious attraction from the stop is the Fuji TV building which has a very futuristic shape. Second is the reproduction of the Statue of Liberty given to the Japanese by the French a few years ago. What was also obvious is the place was jam-packed full of people and there was a large carnival set up all around the area, perhaps a couple of them. That meant the place was overrun with kids. The main reason I went to Daiba is they brought the giant Gundam robot back. It was up before my last trip but was taken down before we got there and now it is back again. I had to do a little searching to find it but it wasn't really all that bad. I did a full loop of it for pictures from all angles. I would say it is at least 40 or 50 feet tall. I am a terrible judge of stuff like that but it did look like the size they are supposed to be in the cartoons.
After I was done with the Gundam I was pretty much done with Daiba and I just got back onto the monorail and headed back to Shimbashi. This train was even more crowded than the one on the way in but I found a comfy spot at the edge of the car. My stop was the last stop so I didn't have to worry about getting out through the crowds. At Shimbashi I changed to the Yamanote Line again and headed back to Hamamatsucho. There I sought out Kaji and some Kobe beer. I got there a bit early and he asked me to come back at 6pm so I wandered around the area exploring a bit until it was 6 and then headed back. I had his special Kobe beef set. Yes it is expensive. Yes it is worth it. The meal started with a small glass of white zinfandel and a tray of starters which included a cold spiced beef, a cold shrimp with an herb sauce on it and a lychee nut (I think) with some sort of sauce on it as well. All were really good. When I finished the wine I ordered a beer. Next followed the daikon radish cooked with salt, pepper and soy, followed by an onion slice, piece of squash and a small new potato. These were all cooked together but finished individually. I decided to hold onto them to changes tastes while eating this time. Next came the beef and I had it rare as usual. Nothing but salt and pepper and garlic were added. It was incredibly tender and very tasty as it had been before. The garlic chips were also cooked up and served and added another flavor and a crunchy texture to go along with the others. I was mostly done the beef when he made some bean sprouts with red and green peppers sliced very thin. Those were followed by the beef fat cracklings. He takes the fat from the steak and puts it under a press to render out all the oils. The bit cook up crunchy and tasty. The fat is saved and then after he serves the cracklings he puts some minced garlic on the grill in the fat and browns that and then cooks the fried rice with that. He only adds salt and pepper otherwise. It is possibly my favorite part of the meal. I am fairly certain I like it more than the beef even though that is probably heresy to say. After the rice came a set of pickles (cucumber and radish) and a miso soup with brown beans and tofu. Following the soup was a mango half. After that was a demitasse cup of coffee that was strong but good. While I was there his reservations arrived in the form of a mother, her 2 sons and daughter. They ordered cuts of steak that were not Kobe but man were they huge. It looked like Texas steakhouse size. In any event they were on to the cracklings with their steaks by the time I was leaving. After dinner I went back to the hotel for a bit before heading out to meet Marina who had been teaching while I ate dinner. It would be our last chance to say good-bye before I left.
I headed out to Ebisu Station on the Yamanote Line and met her at the gate. We walked down to the Exselsior Coffee place which is about all that was open long enough by that point and sat and chatted for a while until the store closed and we were sent away. From there we walked back to the train station and on to the Yamanote Line to Hamamatsucho where she rode with me until my stop then after saying our good-byes she headed back to her home and I walked back to the hotel. I got as much of the packing done as I could before heading to bed still uncertain how my day was going to go on Wednesday with such a late flight departure at 6:15pm.
The pictures from today are located here.
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